Press Start
by Alu In Chains
Summary: It's been a nice few weeks since Ralph finally got a little recognition, Felix found his dynamite gal, and Vanellope had her dreams of becoming a racer come true. But just as things were getting good, something HAD to go wrong. Even the sun sets in paradise...
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1****  
**

**Update!  
**

"I'm not entirely sure about this, kid. Are you sure it will work?" Mr. Litwak asked while rubbing the back of his neck, watching the game carefully as the technician messed with cords in the back. The 'kid' sat up, revealing himself to be almost 30-years-old, proving to be long past those days. However, he didn't mind the arcade owner calling him a kid, it'd become a nickname to him since his first visit to the arcade.

"Positive. All I'm doing is connecting information from the later version, and 'Petitioning' it onto the hard drives of the existing game. Well, not really that, but a process pretty similar. That way I'm not messing with the old information while adding in the new."

Litwak just stared at the man and blinked twice. "Ah," he commented with a simple nod of understanding, regardless of the fact that he had no idea what the repairer was talking about. The technician himself had been a former customer of the arcade many times; from prepubescent years to early adult hood. Not an every day face of the arcade, he was definitely present at least three times a week, making him a familiar face of the arcade regularly.

A week ago, he'd gotten a call from the long forgotten youth once he'd graduated and started going to a college for technical services. He said he wanted to come by the place and check out all his old favorites. Needless to say, when he had showed up, the man was ecstatic to see Fix-it Felix Jr. still fixing the day away. Reminiscing in all the memories of his childhood, the grown-man stood with his face practically pressed against the glass to clearly see all his favorites race across screen. Though he did notice that some games from his old visits were missing, and knew almost immediately that they had probably broken down and then unplugged. Once the overall excitement died down, it allowed the tech to explain why he'd come.

Because he was such a fan of the arcade as a child, and respected the old man greatly for keeping the place open to kids from newer generations, the technician offered to check and update any game; new or old. Skeptical at first, Litwak eventually agreed under one condition; Litwak would be allowed to watch anything done to his games. And the man was always true to his word; updating what could be and keeping the life on all that couldn't.

The game receiving an update now, however, was _not_ new. Sugar Rush Speedway was plugged in around 1997, and fancy games that could receive updates didn't exist yet. The technician had explained, however, that new versions had been released. He was determined to pay Mr. Litwak back for all of the amazing childhood experiences in his arcade that led him to become an arcade machine technician; professionally. He wanted to have the game updated without the old man having to completely buy a new machine that had all the latest features. Not that much had changed, but he felt that it was the least he could do, especially for one of his favorite games.

"So the computer that you're hooking this up to… it has to stay connected all day?"

The Technician stood up and squeezed out from between all the games, dusting his hands off and opening the computer in question.

"Yeah. This laptop here is the strongest one my company's got. It should be able to do the trick, but it will have to stay plugged in for a day. The downside is, I only have one cord that fits into the outlet of the game."

"Well why's that bad?" Mr. Litwak asked, shrugging. The technician grimaced and picked up a section of the cord, showing off an area where the covering had been stripped away to show off the colorful assortment of wires hidden beneath its flesh. Letting out a low whistle, the old man looked at the wire, then back up at the technician with a pained expression on his face.

"That won't affect the update, would it?"

"No, but it would affect a kid who steps on this part. Do you have a mat to cover it for now?" the technician asked.

Nodding, Mr. Litwak walked over the front doors and rolled up the large welcome mat. The Technician showed agreement while rolling the kart housing the laptop and other supplies securely between two games where it fit snugly. The owner of the arcade covered the walkway and dusted his own hands off like the technician had done before. Both stood for a moment and admired his handy work, as the logo to Sugar Rush Speedway faded to a screen of black. The sole occupant had become a candy cane, the familiar red and white slowly swirling its way from one end to the other. With thirty minutes until opening the arcade, Litwak sighed and put an 'Out of Order' sign on the screen, so no kids tried to play while the update was in progress.

The technician looked down at his watch and smiled, still impressed with himself and the job he had done on the games.

"Twenty five minutes until opening, Mr. Litwak. May I… go play some Hero's Duty and check out the new weapon selecting features that I added?" the technician asked with a hopeful smile on his face. The old man snickered and shook his head side to side. He uncrossed his arms, pointing his thumb in the direction of the front doors, and with a grin he said, "Arcade's not open. Go wait outside with the rest of the kids."

Hanging his head in mock disappointment, the technician exited the doors to wait with the other children that had gathered, passing Litwak one last smile.

* * *

As soon as that 'Out of Order' sign was stuck onto the screen of Sugar Rush Speedway, Ralph had bolted straight for the candy-coated game that was home to his best friend. Not only had he panicked, smashed his fists into a few things, and left Felix a 'small' mess to clean up, but he had also ran out of the game without explanation. The Nicelanders were more than likely disturbed with this recent behavior, especially with the arcade so close to opening. Most of them cried out after him, but he wouldn't listen; not even taking the train and running straight through the tunnel all the way to Game Central Station.

An alarm went off as soon as he entered the station, but before Surge could appear and announce a 'random security check,' the same alarm had gone off a second time as he passed through the entrance to Sugar Rush without stopping. Surge looked up from his clipboard, usually not having to do so, but clearly he had missed whatever alarm tripping entity that refused to follow the rules. Scowling, Surge was about to pixel out, back to his 'office' so to say, when he was nearly toppled over by the good guy of the first game notified.

"Mornin' friend. Have you seen Ralph come through?"

"That… was Ralph..!? Surge's bewildered look went from Felix to the entrance to the candy-coated haven, somehow expecting the nine foot tall nuisance to still be stomping around. To be honest he wasn't entirely surprised that it was him that tripped the alarms, but usually he had the decency to at least stop.

"Yes he… sort of stormed out on us last minute. I'm not sure why. Do you know where he went by chance?"

Surge pointed Felix towards Sugar Rush before he quickly began running in that direction. Honestly, he should have guessed that Ralph had been heading to Sugar Rush in the first place; though with acting the way he was, Felix wasn't going to assume anything.

Ralph had just about made it to Sugar Rush when he was stopped. Suddenly in front of him was an out of breath Felix, who had practically sprinted the whole cord to the game just to catch up with him.

"What is wrong with you?!" Felix demanded, putting his fists on his hips and trying to not look so winded while doing so. His chest still heaved as he stared up at Ralph, his gaze half annoyed, half curious.

"Did you _not_ see 'Out of Order' sign on Sugar Rush?!" Ralph demanded, walking around Felix, continuing across the rainbow bridge and heading down to the racetrack. Before he could take another step, though, he was abruptly stopped _again_, to his annoyance, but this time by a smaller character.

"Hiya, bigfoot!" Vanellope beamed as she smiled up at Ralph. Confused as to why she was smiling and being… well… Vanellope, Ralph picked up the pint-sized girl and examined her as if something were off about her. Felix was beside him now too, appearing worried now that he knew of the sign placed on Vanellope's game.

"What are you doing? You two are looking at me like I just blew up the whole arcade…"

"Is your game _all right_?!" Felix asked. Now the girl, too, looked confused, her gaze shifting between the two scared and anguished faces of her friends.

"Wh…_Why_ do you ask?" she questioned, voice shaking with her own fear as she was completely unsure of their behavior.

"Oh, geez, I don't know," Ralph started, shrugging and looking away for a moment; acting like himself again, "Maybe it could have something to do with the sign on your game?!"

"Oh! That's what I was on my way to come see you guys for, stinkbrain!" Vanellope beamed again, and pointed behind her, gesturing at the whole of Sugar Rush.

That was when the two finally noticed exactly what was going on.

Every inch of the game's sky had changed from its usual clear blue with puffy pink clouds, to a dark, near black shade. The clouds themselves were a slightly darker shade of blue than the sky, and seemed low to the ground, but not menacing at all. Light blue lighting flashed here and there, with no thunder following, and still appearing to be harmless. Most of all, the clouds were spinning in a large circle, appearing almost as if a huge hurricane was hovering directly above the game, and the eye of it was just over the finish/starting line.

Before either character from Fix-It Felix Jr. could ask what was going on, Vanellope leapt up in excitement.

"We're getting updated!"


	2. Down The Rabbit Hole

**_A/N:_ I never thought I would become so busy during my college life. Like, seriously, part of me really hoped that I would at least have time to write but that's just not happening. So I aplogize for the long wait, and how lame this story is probably going to be. This story is going to become a free time monster that may or may not get better with time. Feel free to stick with me to see how it turns out though!**

**I don't own WIR.**

* * *

"I was coming to tell you not to worry about the sign, since I knew you'd see it. But also to kind of brag because… well… it's awesome, okay?! The old unfinished bonus level where you taught me how to drive will be finished! Oh! And then there's another bonus level through the underground cavern where all those cybugs were! And then there's-"

"Okay, okay, we get it, kid," Ralph smiled putting a hand on the bouncing Vanellope to steady her, "I was just worried, okay?"

"Look if anything happened to my game you guys would be the first to know, alright? And besides, most things I can handle myself!" Vanellope responded, puffing her chest out proudly. Ralph and Felix both smirked and exchanged glances.

"Anyway, now that I already told you I better get back to the starting line. Everyone is waiting for me and I have to be present in President Mode!" she saluted before turning on her heel to walk away. That was when Ralph's smirk from earlier had faltered and with one finger, had snagged the child by the hood of her hoodie.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa; you're _racing_ during your update?"

"Are you kiddin'? We're getting a new racer! So everyone's lined up at the track to welcome her with a Race of Initiation!" she crossed her arms, glaring up at giant holding her, "With ears as freakishly huge as yours, I thought you'd be _listening_."

"Why you-"

"A race of initiation," Felix repeated behind Ralph, interrupting his co-worker, "Sounds awful nice. I'm sorry we won't be able to see it. We'll come back after the arcade closes to meet her then."

Exhaling any annoyance he had a moment ago, Ralph set the pint-sized president down, "Alright grease-monkey, you're off the hook; for now," he said while turning to leave with Felix.

"Whatever, _stinkbrain_!"

"Short stack!"

"Godzilla!"

"_Princess_!"

After that, Ralph was already on the train leaving Sugar Rush Speedway, and wouldn't hear whatever Vanellope had decided to call him next. Huffing and puffing and _insisting_ that the throne had died with her, Vanellope turned on her heels storm back to the starting line.

It seemed just like any other day. The karts were all lined up at the starting line, ready go to, while the racers stood in groups, talking to each other on the sides of the finish line when Vanellope had returned. Aside from finishing bonus levels and what not, everyone was excited the most for the new character that could possibly hit the rosters. Even though she wasn't jumping off the walls like she normally would be, Vanellope was very excited as well.

However, she was in 'President Mode.' When she was in 'President Mode,' Vanellope had her head held high, face stoic and stern, with an air of seriousness about her. No one questioned Vanellope's authority while she was in 'President Mode,' especially when she was in serious situations such as - Oh! Lollipop!

Vanellope pulled the lollipop that had stuck itself on the arm of her sleeve and stuck it in her mouth, sucking on it absent-mindedly while the update went on.

The first thing to download was the kart; and it was _big_. Pixel-by-pixel the car came in. Frame first, interior next, and finally, the exterior (Which took the longest). There was nothing aerodynamically special about the body. Rather than the front of the car being smooth, it had an almost boxy look to it from the front to the back. The body itself didn't start out narrow in the front and wide in the back either. It had open wheels like most of the other cars, but the tires were _huge_. The center, where wheels connected and the majority of the frame sat, was hard candy. It very well could have been made of the same material as a Jawbreaker. The tires were giant, fluffy marshmallows, all four the same size. They were tall enough to make the wheels almost tower above the body itself. Red licorice springs and suspensions were everywhere. The exterior was red velvet cake, curved enough to give the body an appealing appearance without venturing far from the boxy form it started out with, and white icing decorated the cart in lines that traced the curvatures which made them stand out. The seat was also marshmallow, but a different kind than the tires. Lining the interior was white fondant, and the controls were constructed of the same hard candy that made up the frame. The last thing to upload, after most of the car was set on the track, were slits of gram cracker that stuck out of the marshmallow tires, taking on a strange pattern.

Vanellope looked at it with curiosity more than awe, as did everyone else. It was certainly… different, and didn't look like racing material. The more she thought about it, the stranger it seemed. After the kart was finished, the jumbo-tron showed several different locations where new tracks were being laid out throughout the game, and where some unfinished levels would finally be able to be played. While everyone had been watching that, Vanellope had walked onto the track to inspect the new kart further. Was this meant for off road levels? Could this monster even _go_ as fast the other karts? She was so focused on examining the new candy car, Vanellope didn't notice the wind picking up until someone (She thought it was Candlehead) gasped and called out to her.

Looking up, she saw that the blue clouds that had come with the update were spiraling rapidly. In the middle, right above the finish line, the clouds began reaching down. It took a moment but finally the twister (If that's what it even was) touched down. The rapid spinning of the blue pixelated clouds started to slow, but it still stood its ground and didn't rise back up. At its core, there appeared to be an empty avatar. Empty meaning it was just the basic body shape, like a mannequin, and nothing more. Above the avatar were three words and a percentage:

_Downloading Carmine Cakewalk… 1%_

* * *

"I'm sorry ma'am, but I just can't help you. Your computer is too outdated for all of the antivirus wares we have to offer."

The woman across the counter had obviously wanted to strangle him. Better yet, she may just have to beat him with her 'outdated computer'. As obsolete as said machine may be, she still needed every ounce of information on it. Pleading with the nerd on the other side of the counter wouldn't work, and reasoning only got her a skeptical look in return. Hell would have to freeze over before she got on her knees and begged. He should seriously be concerned for his health right now. No, wait, she shouldn't think like that. A huff of breath expelled beige colored strands away from her face, giving her a clearer view. She was _not_ giving up this easily.

"Look, I have a lot of information on his thing and I can't just let it get eaten away! Please, isn't there _anything_ you guys can do about this? I only have one week of spring break to get this done. I can't even finish my assignments! I _need_ this computer fixed!"

The man on the other side of the counter gave her a heavy sigh. She leaned forward with anticipation when he opened his mouth to respond. Her breath caught in her lungs whilst waiting. His mind was drawing blanks when searching for what to tell her. He let out a short breath followed by a weak smile.

"You said you've tried everything?"

"Anything that I could run. Windows 2000 doesn't exactly agree with a lot of things."

"I know, I know," he mumbled and scratched the back of his head, "It's just… you've already done my job for me. There's really nothing that can be done. That virus you have is nasty, and your computer is a dinosaur. It's a free-for-all.

"As for all the memory on the computer; I can save that."

"Really?!" The woman asked, suddenly on the balls of her feet, "Oh that would be great!"

"Awesome!" he shared her enthusiasm and pulled up something on his computer that she couldn't see, "Now I just need some information. Your name?"

"Carmen Waters."

"Date of birth?"

"January 12, 1991."

"Phone number?"

"402…827…9874."

There was a moment of silence following the last question. It was a slow day in the small local computer store. So slow, that Carmen had to be the only customer in so far, she was sure. While waiting, she chewed on nails that were already as short as she could make them.

"So how'd you find us here?"

The nail-muncher jumped, not expecting him to try and start a conversation. Repressing her startled behavior the girl looked back out the glass doors at the gas station across the street.

"I stopped to get gas and happened to see it from over there."

The computer geek made a sound of acknowledgement that kept Carmen from continuing the conversation. There was a slight sting of disappointment when she realized it was just another question. Finally his swift fingers pulled away from the keyboard.

"So I do have the equipment to pull your files from your computer. Just leave it here with me and I'll have it done within a week."

"A week?!"

Now it was _his_ turn to be startled. The man jumped at her sudden shriek and looked at her in amazement.

"Well yeah," he began, "The virus took over your computer completely. There's no way to quickly just turn it on and pull files over."

The expression on her face went from surprise to a look of absolute hatred.

"I don't have time for a week!" she snapped. Her voice had taken on a whole new tone and even a whole new accent. The man cringed at the sound of it, but she didn't stop there. Carmen raged for a full moment, fumbling with her large backpack and trying to fit her outmoded 'dinosaur' into it.

"Ya cramped up nerds an' yer fancy machines," she ranted while zipping up her bag. The monster-sized camping backpack was slung back onto her shoulders. Carmen struggled to get her arms through the loops as she continued, "Ya know what?! Up yers! Screw ya _and_ yer freakin' computers! Ya think ya cn' screw me over and mess wit' mah files fer a week?! Mah laptop's a senior citizen, show some respect ya son of a-"

The doors slammed behind her.

So she had a bit of a temper.

Losing control of her accent was completely embarrassing; no matter how rare those moments occur. Carmen's cursing had become low mumbles as she walked across the street where her bike was waiting for her. The old, silver café racer was leaning on its kickstand waiting for her. One leg was thrown over the seat but before she could do more than that her stomach had made a complaint. The sudden sound of gurgling and the feel of her bowels shuddering made the girl come to a screeching halt. She checked her phone; it was a quarter past two.

"Dangit," she muttered, putting the device away and looking up at the small store. Food from inside was calling out to her, singing to her like welcoming angels. Time was of the essence, though. Carmen was supposed to be at the lake house with her friends four hours ago, and she'd only been driving for an hour now. Stopping at the computer store didn't help any at all, but she wasn't expecting anything to take long. The cry of her gastrointestinal tract finalized her decision. Well, she was already this late; might as well take her time at this point.

Incognizant to three pairs of eyes watching her, Carmen had set her bag down and began looking for her wallet. '_No, no, that's not it, nope, nuh uh, that's the change purse…_' she thought, pulling out the small bag in question. The cash was saved up for nights that would be spent doing very unladylike things over the spring break. However, if the wallet was nowhere to be found, she may need it right now. So she set it aside and kept digging.

Something flashed by in a blur. Startled, Carmen looked up and noticed that her change purse was gone.

"What?!"

Immediately she saw the three boys riding away on bicycles and let out a low, frustrated growl. They were _not_ taking the cash she had been saving up for this occasion. Open backpack forgotten, Carmen jumped back onto the bike, slapped her helmet on and didn't bother to strap it down. With a flick of her wrist, she went after the boys.

A block ahead, the boys turned left. Carmen rolled to a stop at the intersection, her left blinker on and shoulders hunched as if she were about to take off at full speed. Once the green arrow came on, she twisted the handle and took off. At a steady, but fast pace, she traveled down the road the boys had turned on to. Eventually she saw them, way far ahead, turning into the parking lot of a building with a neon sign that said 'Litwak's Arcade.'

Something in her anger sparked.

They _stole_ her money… to go to an arcade. Her tires screamed in protest as Carmen roughly parked her bike in front of the building and walked past the three bicycles that were chained to the rack just outside the doors, giving one of them a nice kick as she passed.

Setting aside her admiration for all the old games present, Carmen scanned them and looked at each of the children who were currently putting in quarters. It took some time for her to recognize one, and immediately she was after him.

He was in a Jurassic Park game, the kind where you sit in a small room with the bench, guns, and screen in front of you to shoot at the dinosaurs as your car moves through the game. The boy didn't notice how much trouble he was in until he looked to see who had plopped into the seat next to him, coming to face a very angry woman with a forced smile on her face.

"Have you happened to see my change purse anywhere?"

The game that had just started was suddenly abandoned as the kid ran out of the game screaming. Carmen followed, but with a little more difficulty. She forgot that she had her backpack on and didn't take a moment to put it down. The boy ran off and interrupted one of his friends who were playing a different arcade game. Carmen was still struggling with her huge backpack to get out of the cramped space that Jurassic Park had provided while the other kid stopped his game with Fix-It Felix Jr.

The two set off to look for the third boy, whom had Carmen's change purse she demanded. When the first ran by Sugar Rush he tripped and fell, followed by the other boy. Their heads popped back up to make sure no one had seen them fall. When they stood up they looked to see what they had tripped over. It was a mat covering a thick wire connected from a cart across the isle to Sugar Rush, which was currently out of order. The boys shared a glance and grinned. They then made sure that Mr. Litwak was nowhere near the entrance; he wasn't.

Carmen had finally caught up to where she had seen the boys last. She stopped in front of an older arcade game that one of the two had been playing a moment before. The girl let out a frustrated growl and turned back toward the entrance hoping she wouldn't see them riding their bikes and escaping her once more. Instead, she saw the third and final kid that had been involved in the theft, carrying her change purse with him across the arcade.

"You!" she yelled, and ran in his direction. The kid stopped and recognized her immediately. Gasping, he started running back in the direction he had come from. Carmen was just about to turn the corner when her foot hit something. Unable to regain her balance in time, especially with an eighty pound backpack, Carmen fell forward and groaned when said backpack almost completely pinned her on the ground.

She felt like a total idiot. Carmen pushed herself up off the ground and cursed, blaming herself for being so reckless and chasing after twelve-year-olds like this. The two boys got up from their hiding positions, dropping the wire they just used to trip her with, and ran in the direction their friend had gone, leaving Carmen on the ground kicking herself. When she finally stood up, she kicked the wire off her shoe and let out a roar of frustration.

She was _not_ giving up that easily.

The girl spun on her heel after the boys once more. If they were stupid enough not to leave, she was stupid enough to try again. However, she was only able to take one step before her life got worse. With all the pressure put on the wire, the guts of the exposed portion almost started to spark. When Carmen took that one step to continue her search, she stepped right on the part of the wire that was already under the most pressure.

It happened so fast she almost threw up.

First her foot went numb, then her leg, followed by everything else. For a minute she felt completely paralyzed, and suddenly everything went black.

Then she was being shoved.

The sensation was very similar to falling, and that alone was enough to make Carmen completely sick with fear.

She was being pushed through a dark tunnel that sparked every time she came in contact with the walls, giving her a sharp feeling similar to being shocked. She felt like she was going to be sick, thrashing and flipping for a hold on reality as she was thrown through bits and pieces of information. Carmen had no idea that she was hitting bits and pieces of code as she was forced along.

Soon, she exited the tunnel and became surrounded by a blue fog that seemed endless. The clouds of the fog began to spiral and suddenly, the pit of her stomach felt free. She was no longer being pushed. However, now she was _falling_. Straight down, with nothing to catch her if she hit anything. Suddenly, her throat felt sore and the sound of an ear splitting scream came to her attention. Carmen didn't even realize that she had been screaming.

Tears accumulated at the corners of her eyes and blur her vision. Carmen was completely unsure if they were from her own fear or because she was falling at such high speeds. Nevertheless, the saltwater drop did nothing to calm her as a wild, feral panic took over her body. Arms flailing and throat becoming numb, Carmen tried to brace herself for any incoming impact to no avail. She was going to die…!

* * *

Carmine Cakewalk's download was taking ages. Everyone was on the edge of their seats waiting for the percentages to rise and for the new racer to be completed. Vanellope was practically dancing in place from excitement.

The crowd buzzed with talk about what she could possibly look like, and whether or not she'd be able to beat the racers some specific citizens were loyal to. The racers themselves were talking about what her strategy for racing would be.

"Especially with a kart like _that_," Vanellope heard Taffyta say at one point. Not necessarily said out of malice, though that's what it sounded like. Vanellope didn't pay attention to what was said next, not entirely interested. As much as she wanted to socialize with her friends, Vanellope had to be in 'President Mode'. President Von Schweetz was a respectable leader that socialized when it was important (or at least, that's the message she liked to send in 'President Mode').

Vanellope's thoughts were interrupted by the sudden silence of the crowd. Their excitement had died into a silence that made the young girl nervous. The only sound was the wind howling in low tones. Straining her large ears to listen, eventually she heard something else. A high-pitched sound rang in the air, steadily growing louder with each passing second. All eyes watched the skies, wondering where the sound was coming from. Something fell through the top of the twister where Carmine's empty avatar was currently at thirty percent.

Something- no, some_one_ was falling into the update.

Several characters gasped while others watched wide eyed as the figure, partly visible now, fell through the center of the twister and screamed the whole way down, crashing into the empty avatar of Carmine Cakewalk.

There was a sickening _crunch_ following the crash landing, and within seconds the loading bar filled up completely.

_Carmine Cakewalk Complete_

_100%_

* * *

**_A/N: _Going into game mode over an exposed wire; lame right? I thought so too. Actually I have a bigger explanation as to what happened but... I didn't know how else to put it or what else to do so you're going to have to deal with the lameness. Yeah. Lame.**

**Carmen's character has an issue with hiding her accent which is very strong. She normally has some good control over it but once she reaches a point of panic or extreme anger it's not going to be managable. Sorry about that.**

**...It's supposed to be a southern accent by the way...**

**Reviews are appreciated. Any questions, feel free to ask on here or PM me.**


	3. Author Note! Will Delete!

**A/N: Bet you guys looked at this and thought, oh! Update already!**

**Actually—and I really am sorry to say this—it's just a quick announcement. In the last chapter I did say this has become a free-time story, so of course I wouldn't be able to update so soon…anyway that's not why I'm doing this! Getting off track again…**

**I got a few reviews asking if this is Ralph/Older Vanellope. I didn't want to have you guys wait a month or so for the next chapter just to find out, but I am also prevented from responding via PM for various reasons. So I'm making this quick jumbled author's note/fake-chapter thingie to tell you 'no.' This is, unfortunately, not a ralph/older Vanellope. Van is cute the way she is and personally, if I were the game's manufacturer, I wouldn't age the characters. I mean people buy the game BECAUSE of the cute kids. If they were all teenagers it wouldn't be as exciting for the target audience. That's just my opinion, but I'm not bashing any older!vanellope fics out there! I've read some great ones, it's a cute idea, but that's not for this story. Sorry.**

**Second, I know some of you are curious, but Ralph doesn't get paired with Carmen either. She DOES get paired with someone eventually. It will probably be revealed in the next chapter or so, but how else am I going to keep you readers if there wasn't that mystery?**

**Thanks for the reviews, guys! I really appreciate them, and wish I was able to respond without having to trick some of the silent readers. Unfortunately that's just how things work out though; I hope you guys enjoy the rest of the story!**

**I'm going to leave this up for a day and I'll take it down, just to give people time to see it.**


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